Summary
GOYANG, South Korea (AP) — On the first day of the LPGA Crown International, the United States defeated China in two fourball matches, while world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul continued her perfect run at the event. Thitikul and her partner Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand edged out Hannah Green and Grace Kim of Australia by one point at the New Korea Country Club. This victory marked Thitikul's sixth consecutive win in the team competition. Earlier, Australia had defeated Chanettee Wannasaen and Jasmine Suwannapura, also by two points, splitting the points with Thailand on opening day.
Americans Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin defeated China's Liu Yan and Yin Ruoning 5-4, while Lilia Vu and Lauren Coughlin also won, beating Zhang Weiwei and Liu Ruixin by one point. The United States was thus the only team to win both matches in their opening game.
Japan took the lead against Team World in both fourball matches, but Charley Hull and Lydia Ko birdied the final hole to tie with Rio Takeda and Miyu Yamashita. Later, Brooke Henderson and Wei-Ling Hsu secured a 2 and 1 victory over Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo, earning 1.5 points for their team.
Key details
Hull and Ko managed to reduce the difference to one point when Hull won the 12th hole with a birdie, maintaining the disadvantage until the 18th hole, where they finally tied the match thanks to a 25-foot putt by Ko.
“The only way I thought we could extend the match was by sinking the putt on the 17th,” Ko said. “With our distances, it wasn’t a guaranteed birdie putt, but I felt I shouldn’t let the team down. Charley sank so many good birdie putts that kept the match going, and I just followed suit on the last two holes.”
The host team, South Korea, got off to a good start when Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi beat Sweden's Maja Stark and Linn Grant 3 and 2. Jin Young Ko and Haeran Ryu finished tied with Ingrid Lindblad and Madelene Sagstrom.
The tournament format includes the participation of seven countries and a "rest of the world" team in two groups: the United States, China, Australia, and Thailand in Group A, and South Korea, the World Team, Japan, and Sweden in Group B. The teams and their players were determined by the women's world ranking, and the inclusion of a World Team allows the participation of players such as Ko from New Zealand and Henderson from Canada.
Statements and context
The fourball matches will continue on Friday and Saturday. The top two countries from each group will advance to the semifinals and finals on Sunday, which will consist of one foursomes match (alternate shot) and two singles matches. Thitikul was part of the Thai team that won the International Crown in 2023 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, making her the only player in the field to have won this event. To date, Thitikul has six LPGA Tour victories, including wins this season at the Mizuho Americas Open and the Shanghai tournament two weeks ago.
Last week, Sei Young Kim won the BMW Ladies Championship, also in South Korea. The LPGA Asian Tour continues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week and concludes in Shiga, Japan, from November 6-9.
